


We All Act a Little Bad Sometimes

by lostin_space



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Confrontations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-30
Updated: 2019-09-30
Packaged: 2020-11-08 09:54:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20833529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: Alex confronts Isobel and Max on how they treat Michael.





	We All Act a Little Bad Sometimes

**Author's Note:**

> a loose followup to [this fic](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20826191), but it isn't completely necessary to read first

“Where’s Michael?”

“Actually, I need to speak to you two alone, and I would appreciate it if we don’t tell Michael about it.”

Isobel and Max shared a look on their side of the booth before hesitantly nodding. Alex took that as a maybe. They seemed to be genuinely concerned about whatever he had to say which was _good_, but also slightly annoying that they didn’t already have an idea.

“Listen, I don’t think either of you have a problem with Michael’s sexuality,” Alex said, pausing to give them room to say anything if they felt the need. They didn’t, thankfully. “But I’m pretty sure he thinks you do.”

Alex watched as confusion overcame them and he shifted in his seat. While he didn’t think his words were entirely accurate‒though on some level they might‒he didn’t want to go throwing out the exact words Michael had told him confidence. They were secrets for a reason. It already felt like a breach of privacy that he was having this conversation at all, but something needed to change.

“Why would he think that? We don’t care who he dates, as long as he’s happy,” Isobel said firmly. Alex gave a tight smile, nodding.

“Yeah, that’s the problem,” Alex told them, “Whenever you realized Max was unhappy without Liz, it upset you. And Max, you spent a decade without Liz and it was tough, but you saw Michael dealing with the same thing. I’m not saying I’m innocent in this situation because I’m not, but I think you both just brushed off that he was extremely unhappy for years.”

“I didn’t know,” Isobel jumped in, already sounding defensive which irked Alex more than he could put into words.

“But you _did_. Sometime in the last decade, you knew that he and I had something and that I wasn’t here and that it had to upset him. And maybe if I hadn’t, maybe you thought we had something long-distance going on, but you never _asked_ him,” Alex said. Isobel’s eyes shifted and Alex looked to Max who had been silent the whole time. He looked confused.

“I don’t think you can compare me and Liz to you and Michael,” Max said after a moment. That felt like whiplash. Alex blinked a few times.

“Excuse me?”

“You chose to leave him, Liz didn’t choose to leave me. I don’t think it’s on the same level. Yeah, maybe he was upset, but we had more pressing issues than his crush leaving town when everyone knew you would be going to war since we were kids. Liz left in a spur of the moment,” Max said then he shook his head, “Even then, I didn’t ruin myself over it. I got a job, I got a house, I got my shit together. Michael’s the only one to blame for how he ended up.”

Alex leaned forward, “Michael lived as a murderer for a decade because he didn’t want to fuck Isobel’s life up. He ended up in a trailer and an alcoholic because you two didn’t let him know he could be anything else when he was a supposed murderer. He wanted to go to school. He wanted to be something more. You made him stay.”

“That’s not what we’re here to talk about,” Isobel said, putting her arm between the two men, but honestly Alex wasn’t done.

“And don’t make Michael and I out to be less than you and Liz. I was only saying that you both couldn’t be with the people you loved and you could’ve grown closer together over that, but you chose to let him suffer alone so that you could brood alone. And I wasn’t a _crush_ who left like he was supposed to. Michael was my boyfriend back then and I left because my father threatened his life if I stayed with him, do you understand? _Liz_ was your crush, Michael was my life,” Alex ranted before taking a deep breath and schooling himself. He didn’t want this to get heated and he was usually good at keeping his composure. Apparently, all it took was someone minimizing Michael to make him want to hurt someone. “But that’s why he thinks you two see him as less than. Because from your point of view, the difference was he was in love with a man and you were in love with a woman.”

Max kept his chin raised because he thought it made him look stern. Isobel put a hand on his shoulder, looking towards Alex with a face that said she was willing to work with him. He didn’t think Max would get to that point.

“Okay, okay, but that’s not it.” Isobel tried, shaking her head, “We honestly don’t care.”

“I think you should care, that’s the thing,” Alex said, calmer now even if Max was glaring at him like he just said he hated his dog, “I’m not really here to hear an explanation. What happened, happened and you can’t change it. You can apologize and you can grow from it.”

“So, what? You want us to apologize for _not_ having a problem with Michael being bisexual?” Max grumbled. Alex rolled his eyes.

“No, I want you to apologize for not being there for him. He seriously thinks he’s less than you. He thinks you care about each other more than him. He thinks his pain is a joke that shouldn’t be taken seriously just because he’s not perfect,” Alex explained and Isobel’s eyebrows came together in concern.

“He said that?”

Alex let out a deep breath and tried not to feel bad about being too honest with what Michael told him in confidence. They needed to hear it. “Not in those exact words, but yeah. You two affect him a lot more than I think either of you realize.”

“Why hasn’t he told us this himself?” Isobel asked, still gripping Max’s shoulder like she was scared he was going to get all defensive again. It was probably a good call.

“You’ve met him,” Alex huffed, “His pride is way too high to bother you with something he feels is his fault.”

“You said you didn’t want us to tell him we had this talk. How are we going to apologize without him knowing?” she asked, her hand moving to cover Max’s mouth when it opened. Alex smiled.

“Honestly, maybe you can’t apologize. Just… please try harder to make him realize he’s not an outlier. I know in high school it was easy to be The Evans Twins and Guerin, but I really think he needs to understand that it’s _you three _together. I love him and I do my best to show that, but he needs it from more people than just me. He needs to realize that his feelings aren’t just something to push away, that he matters. That’s all I’m asking,” Alex said.

“I’ll try harder,” Isobel said, nodding her head. They both turned to Max.

“Yeah, fine, I’ll try harder,” he sighed. Alex nodded though he wasn’t sure he was sincere.

“I’m sorry for getting angry with you,” Alex said, hoping to sound like the bigger person. He wasn’t really that sorry, it was something Max needed to hear, but maybe he’d appreciate the apology enough to treat Michael better.

Max nodded. “Yeah, sorry for discounting your relationship.” Alex smiled curtly.

“Thank you. Good talk. I’ll see you later.”

They said their goodbyes and Alex headed back to the cabin with a little more confidence that at least Isobel would try harder. He didn’t know if it would really fix their word choice‒which seemed to be the main issue‒but maybe they’d be able to show it through their actions at the very least.

As long as Michael understood that he was cared for it didn’t matter.

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
